PETER PELLITIER

My research focuses on understanding and predicting the fate of forest ecosystems under climate change. In particular I strive to understand how fungal communities both respond to, and influence forest ecosystem responses to climate change. I primarily focus on mutualistic mycorrhizal fungal communities, their influence on soil carbon cycling, forest drought-stress tolerance, and tree growth in a changing climate. My research spans a broad array of scales and disciplines, linking fungal genes to large-scale forest ecosystem processes. We rely on a range of techniques involving genomics, plant and fungal physiology, and biogeochemistry. Overall, I seek to identify fundamental plant-fungal interactions that influence forest ecosystems and utilize that knowledge to develop applied interventions that improve forest resilience in a changing climate.